Public Protection

I am surprised by the hon. Gentleman’s last remark, because it is not true. The Chancellor made it clear in his Budget statement that during the next comprehensive spending review, the Home Office budget would maintain a zero real-terms position. That was a good settlement that reflects the needs of public expenditure as opposed to the existing service. The hon. Gentleman is wrong to say that it is a real-terms cut. We have not yet taken final decisions on the allocation of resources within that Home Office envelope, but the resource demands that we are discussing will be part of that. It is important for the probation service to concentrate at the moment on deciding where it should best focus its professional resources in carrying out those responsibilities. That discussion needs to go side by side with the overall discussion on resources.